violence
Zombies and Guns
When did a movie monster become a reason for purchasing weapons? An excerpt from The Zombies Are Coming.
Kingsman: The One-Percent Apocalypse
I went to watch Kingsman: The Secret Service the day after Valentine’s Day. My husband and I were eager to see a movie, any movie really, that didn’t involve talking animals. The choices were limited for those us who refuse to engage Fifty Shades of Grey, so we settled upon Kingsman because it was the…
Sandy Hook Sermon
The Gospel Reading: Luke 3:7-18 John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God…
War and Peace in Newark
On my way into the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, an agent of the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service made me take my camera out of my bag. “It’s a common ruse to pack C4 into a camera,” the agent told me, inspecting the device. Ruses in Newark are becoming increasingly common. Last November, a tight…
The Most Dangerous Game
David Holthouse, in Alternet, reports on the twice yearly Machine Gun Shoot in West Point, Kentucky, where he found lots of Nazi t-shirts and books and anti-Muslim paraphernalia for sale, along with, of course, deadly weapons. This “family-friendly” event is said to have a “split personality”: The rent-a-machine-gun portion of the event is family-oriented. Fathers pay…
No Country for Bold Men
In the face of capricious violence, what kinds of heroes should we seek? This is the rich question being debated over the internet by two unlikely interlocutors: Stanley Fish, a humanities professor and heady New York Times blogger, and Dan Gagliasso, a screenwriter, director, and enthusiast of western films. The conversation began with Gagliasso’s review…
Mom: Pray for Gabrielle Giffords
On Saturday, I’d spent the day out visiting friends, not glued to my computer as usual, so it wasn’t until nearly midnight that I heard about the shooting of a Congresswoman in Arizona, from a friend who’d come over to watch a movie. She couldn’t remember the name. “Gabrielle Giffords?” I said, and laughed at…
We’re All Gay Now!
The recent spate of bullying of gay and possibly gay children—to the point of multiple suicides—called my attention to the use of the word “gay.” It’s still quite frequently heard as a synonym for “uncool.” I think this needs to be dismantled ASAP, not only for the physical and mental health of our children and…
The Day Mumbai Unraveled
We’re pleased to share in celebrating the success of NonProphet Status’ Share Your Secular Story essay contest. This is the second of two winning essays that we’ll feature here on the KtBlog. by Vandana Goel LaClair Tied Winner, Interfaith category This is a story that begins in Mumbai, India. You see, Mumbai, my birth city,…
Fighting for Jesus: A Short Play
MOM is a mom, who’d like nothing more than to spend her spare time doing things she enjoys but instead must contend with MATTHEW, her 30ish, grown-ass unemployed son. (Suitable for puppets.) MOM: Look, honey, Linda emailed me an article. MATTHEW: (…) MOM: Sweetheart, you might really want to take a look at this. MATTHEW:…
Jesus Plus Nothing, Minus Somalia
How Christian fundamentalism helped turn Somalia into the next staging ground for Islamic radicalism.
Unspun
I join Chris Hedges and General Brent Scowcroft as a talking head for Al Jazeera’s new documentary news program, Faultlines, about religion in the military. I was invited to be on the show because of my recent Harper’s story on the subject, “Jesus Killed Mohammed,” in which I write about the growth of a militant…
Grrr, Aggressive Christianity
Sick of all that stuff about THE MEEK and THE PEACEMAKERS? The utter tepidity of regular churches got you down? Well have I got the new religious movement for you! Ryan Patrico recently gave me a heads-up about Aggressive Christianity, knowing my appreciation for adventures in religiosity. They’re a New Mexico-based (formerly Sacramento, CA) community…
Bring Out Your Dead
“The Man giveth, and The Man taketh away.” So begins JoAnn Wypijewski’s sermonic report on a report, the AFL-CIO’s 18th annual “Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect.” Wypijewski only rarely writes explicitly about religion, but a religious aesthetic of witness animates her prose, some of the best literary journalism published today. “Death at…